The thing about Marvel comics is that they did precisely what I was talking about in the other thread--brought the mythic down to earth. Marvel is the comic book equivalent of Richard Matheson, who took horror away from the gothic castle and took it to the streets of modern USA.

Marvel had characaters that seemed "regular" and thus the encounters with villains and the galactic powers had an edge of believability that DC comics just didn't have at the time.

I always preferred the DC War Comics of Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert, along with other great artists like Russ Heath, John Severin, and George Evans. During the Sixties and early 1970s, they quietly churned out some amazing, realistic-looking work that conveyed the horrors of war.

As for Kirby and the like, I've admired Jack Kirby for his "High Concept" imagery, with all of those galaxy-sized computers and spaceships and all of the alien races that he and Stan created.

The success of these comic books come from the characters' approach: the writers focuses on the existential questions and stamp them with the sociology of the time which give a realism and a human thickness. In the 1960's, Marvel was almost New Wave but still the first drawings were a bit late 1950's, meaning elegant and straight. On TV, the same universe was explored in "The Outer Limits".

Neo, before I finally registered for FSM I stalked about these parts everyday after posting at MovieMusic.com. You're truly one of the funniest users I've ever read about any message board. Keep up the funny pictures!

Also, Will Eisner and Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster are the true original heroes of the comic book medium. Jack Kirby has rightfully joined their ranks as Uber-mensch, but Stan Lee has rightfully dropped from his high throne due to his recent antics and - from what it seems - extreme creative dementia.

Kirby still rules them all. His wild imagination, when he was allowed to roam free, was stunningly bizarre and completely infectious.

Although I don't have the new hardback Omnibus reprints of Kirby's New Gods, I have the trade paperback reprints, and the hardback IMMORTALS omnibus, and they're great reading! Zany, spacy, corny and thrilling. I can still recall buying these from the drug store comic rack back in the 70's !

I only wish DC would produce some thick black & white reprints of his Kamandi series ( instead of the pricey hardbacks).

I've got the KAMANDI and FOURTH WORLD reprints DC has been issuing of late. (DC is abandoning its' pricey "Archives" line, leaving the second half of Kirby's run unreprinted. Bummer, eh?)

But my favorite comic ever is Will Eisner's "The Spirit", and it's not-so-coincidentally drawn by my favorite artist ever. I've got all of the Archives to date (only one more volume to go!), and I generally read 'em from cover-to-cover the day I get them. IMHO, comics just don't come any better. (I live in fear of Frank Miller's movie version...if any comic needed a light touch, it's THE SPIRIT. He's not the right guy for the project.)

My favorite Jack Kirby art, though, isn't on CAPTAIN AMERICA or FANTASTIC FOUR, but THE MIGHTY THOR. Damn, that's good stuff. (I know the Vince Colletta inking has a bad rep, but I like it...a lot!)

Ditko's masterpiece...his run on THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. As far as Spidey artists go, no one can touch him.

I'm not big on modern comics, but I really love both ASTRO CITY and lament the loss of Alan Moore's TOM STRONG.

Bob, I love The Spirit too, although I didn't get into that until the Warren ( wasn't it Warren) black & white magazine in the 70's.

Yep, Miller is 100% WRONG for the movie, his Sin City was just plain awful, and yep he's just going to mess this up I know.

The only modern stuff I follow now is Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows ( which it seems is NEVER gonna come back!) although I'll pick up a trade like Kingdom Come, Marvels, Batman The Long Halloween, so I can read a complete story in one volume.

I loved Kirby's pre-superhero "monster" days (FIN FANG FOOM!!) I don't recall him working much on DR.STRANGE though..(that was Steve Ditko in the beginning) I used to have to ride my bike all over my hometown to every store that carried Marvel because not every store stocked every title. It took days to get caught up.(back in the 60s) I couldn't wait to see his creation Galactus portrayed in the FF/Surfer movie....but alas Tim Story chickened out.

(as it's indisputably responsible for the residually unresolved conflicts and life-long animosity Ditko has towards him (and Jack - although the latter had generally patched things up and made peace before The King's death).

Tis no wonder someone once dubbed Smiley "The Ego That Walks Like a Man".

Still, whatever diminishing (and sadly embarrassing) luster his later life has attracted, we daresay doesn't definitively alter his rightful achievements during The Marvel Age (for which a significant amount goes to the encouragement his wife Joan conclusively contributed to giving him the courage to re-write the "rules") ...

I loved Kirby's pre-superhero "monster" days (FIN FANG FOOM!!) I don't recall him working much on DR.STRANGE though..(that was Steve Ditko in the beginning) I used to have to ride my bike all over my hometown to every store that carried Marvel because not every store stocked every title. It took days to get caught up.(back in the 60s) I couldn't wait to see his creation Galactus portrayed in the FF/Surfer movie....but alas Tim Story chickened out.

Whoops, my mistake. I was caught up in Ditko's MARVEL-ous Cosmic depiction of Eternity to see the whole truth. Steve Ditko is also a king in his own right. Doctor Strange has always been my favorite Marvel hero, even if he is the ultimate deus ex machina.

I liked Gene Colan's DR. STRANGE when the Doctor had the black mask....it was kinda cool. STRANGE would make a great theatrical movie. The 70s tv film wasn't bad except for the final Flash Gordon style costume. They depicted the other dimensions pretty well on a limited budget.